


Dearly Bee-Lovers

by ByTheBi



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Elementary School, Fluff, M/M, Weddings, schoolyard wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:27:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27966812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ByTheBi/pseuds/ByTheBi
Summary: At the ripe age of five (and a half) years old, Lea and Isa get married.
Relationships: Isa/Lea (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 33





	Dearly Bee-Lovers

**Author's Note:**

> Originally a piece intended for a zine that has now been cancelled.

“Dearly bee lovers-”

Isa may not know very much about weddings, but he knows with certainty that *that* isn’t right, so he cuts Aerith off with a terse, “It’s ‘dearly beloved.’”

Aerith pauses. “No, I’m pretty sure it’s bee lovers. You know, because there’s so many flowers at weddings,” she explains, waving the bouquet of fresh picked daisies in her little hand. She's wearing the same kind of flower crown decorating most of their classmates’ heads, the ones she had woven earlier while the other girls draped paper chains over the monkey bars. “And bees go where flowers are, so you must love bees to have so many flowers.”

Lea scrunches up his nose. “I always thought it was dear leaky oven.”

“Why would their oven be leaking?” Tifa asks in concern. 

“I dunno. Maybe their mommy messed up making dinner.”

“It’s ‘dearly beloved,’” Isa repeats in growing frustration. He resists the urge to stamp his foot; he doesn’t want to ruin the best day of his entire five years of life by throwing a tantrum. As his parents always say, that’s unbecoming of a gentleman and he’s clearly a gentleman. He had asked his mother to iron his finest clothes that morning, the navy button up and slacks that he usually reserves for special occasions. Even Lea dressed up today, covering his scarred knees with nicer than usual khakis. 

Aerith just shrugs. “If you say so. It’s your wedding.” She clears her throat. “Dearly bee-loved! We are gathered here today to, um…”

Leon shuffles closer and whispers something in her ear. 

“We are gathered to join Isa and Lea in holy mashed bologna!” 

“No!” Isa shouts, this time giving in to the urge to stomp his foot on the black rubber top of the playground. “It’s *matrimony!* Like marriage!”

Aerith immediately frowns, fat tears welling up in her eyes. "Stop YELLING, Isa!"

"You stop yelling!"

Leon steps between the two. 

“It’s his wedding, Aerith,” he says with all the gravity a six year old can muster. “This is really special to him.”

Aerith’s lower lip wobbles before she hangs her head with a sigh. “But he was yelling,” she protests weakly. 

Isa has a response ready on his lips, but a hand squeezing his own grabs his attention. He glances over at Lea, who gives him a wide eyed look. Isa sighs. 

“Sorry, Aerith,” he says slowly. The words feel awkward and clumsy coming out of his mouth, but it’s worth it for the way Lea smiles at him, brighter than the sun reflecting off the metal slide just a few yards away. 

She sniffles, scrubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand. “It’s okay, Isa. I’m sorry for messing up your special day.”

“Hey, it’s not messed up!” Lea immediately jumps in to assure. “He still has me. And I have him. So it’s still super duper special!”

“And the flowers you picked for us are very special,” Isa adds gently, pacified now that he has both an apology and his future husband in hand. 

Aerith manages a smile at that, wiping away the last of her tears and standing up straight. She takes a deep breath and tries again. 

“Dearly beloved,” she announces in a high, clear voice, “We are gathered here today to join Isa and Lea in holy matrimony.”

She stumbles a little over the word, but it’s enough of an improvement that Isa can relax, redirecting his attention to Lea.

The redhead looks serious for once, eyes locked on their impromptu officiator as she fumbles through the rest of her lines. He gives the occasional nod, lips pressed together tightly. At some point, he notices Isa staring and turns his head just enough to wink at him, a wide grin stretching over his face. Isa’s heart squeezes in his chest, so he does the same to Lea’s hands, clutching onto them for dear life.

“Time for vows! Lea, do you wanna go first?”

“Yeah!” Lea faces Isa properly and clears his throat. 

“I tried writing some stuff down, but I realized I didn’t really need to because I already got it all memorized,” Lea said, chest puffing out with pride. “Isa, you’re my best friend in the whole wide world, and that’s never gonna change. I love you as much as I love playing on the monkey bars or getting an extra scoop of chocolate ice cream or the color red. This is the best day ever, and I know every day is only gonna get better because we’ll be married. And someday when we get older, we’ll have a bigger, cooler wedding with all the friends we’ve made and I’ll get to kiss you in front of everybody!”

The rest of their classmates coo at that, a few of them making kissy noises while Isa stands there, flushing Lea’s favorite color down to his neck. Lea’s blushing a little too, but his head is held tall, unrepentant in his adoration. 

“Your turn, Isa,” Aerith whispers, gently nudging him. He swallows and nods. 

“Right…” 

Everyone’s eyes are on him now and while Isa never struggled with speaking in front of the class, this feels different enough that the back of his neck prickles. He swallows again, trying to remember the words he had so carefully picked out a week ago when Lea suggested this whole affair. 

And yet, his vows escape him for a moment. He glances out at the crowd of waiting gazes, then back at his soon-to-be husband’s own expectant eyes. Suddenly, he wishes he *had* written his speech down. 

“Um…”

He pauses, pulling his hand out of Lea’s to wipe his sweaty palms on his pants, but Lea reaches for them again, interlocking their fingers and squeezing tight. 

“It’s okay, Isa,” he whispers. “It’s just you and me.”

Isa takes a slow, deep breath. Just him and Lea. No one else is watching.

“Lea,” he begins because that’s always been the easiest word to roll off his tongue. It doesn’t fail him now, hopscotching off his lips and leaping into the warm spring air. “I love you more than all the stars in the sky. I’ve never stayed up late enough to count them all, but when I grow up, I will, and I’ll name some after you so that way you can look up every night and remember - even though I know you would never forget me.”

“Never,” Lea insists, expression fierce and determined despite how softly he mouths the word. His eyes are glassy because of *course* they are, but Isa decides that he can let it slide just this once.

“Lea, do you take Isa to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

There’s no hesitation. “I do!” 

“And Isa, do you take Lea as your husband, too?”

Isa stares for a moment, mesmerized by the way Lea’s hair has already somehow escaped its ponytail, dancing freely and merrily in the early afternoon sunshine. The sight of his smile, cheeks stretched so wide that his eyes are scrunched up with happiness, fills Isa with an emotion more complicated than he can name. He decides he likes it though, likes it so much that the words slip out without any trouble:

“I do.”

“You may now kiss!”

For all his confidence, Lea grows shy at the declaration, the tips of his ears going rosy. “Ahaha, do we-”

Isa doesn’t let him finish his sentence. He grabs his face, smushing his cheeks between his palms and plants a quick kiss right on the mouth. It earns him a mixed chorus of “Ew, gross!” and “So cute!” from their audience, but all he can really focus on is how tingly his lips feel. He brings a hand up to his mouth while Lea stands there looking dazed.

There’s a smattering of applause while they stand there in flustered silence before it dies down. Someone calls out, “Can we go play now? Recess is almost over!”

“Go ahead,” Isa tells them, watching his classmates scramble to their feet one after another and rush off into a game of tag. 

“You guys coming?” Leon asks, already turned to run after the others. 

Isa glances at Lea and shakes his head. “No. Maybe next time.”

“Suit yourself.”

For a few seconds, all they do is stand there, shuffling their feet and looking anywhere but at each other. Isa toys with the friendship bracelet around his wrist that Lea had offered instead of a ring. 

“Hey, Isa,” Lea says suddenly, taking a tiny step closer. “Now that we’re married, this means you’ll be around forever, right? ‘Til death do us part?”

“Forever,” Isa promises. He can’t imagine a future that doesn’t involve Lea. “Even when we’re as gray as old Mr. Apple, we’ll still be together.”

Lea laughs. “That’s really old! I like the sound of that.”

“Me too.”

He takes a seat on the edge of the steps leading up to the slide. He pats the spot next to him and Isa sits down close enough that their knees touch. 

“When we get older, I’m going to marry you again,” Lea promises, staring up at the sky. “And I won’t even cry next time.”

Isa can’t help but laugh. “It’s okay if you cry, Lea. I won’t get mad.”

“I’m being serious, Isa. I’m gonna marry you a whole bunch of times, so you better be ready.” 

“Is that even allowed?”

Lea shrugs. “Dunno, but I say it is, so I’m gonna make it happen. You better be ready.”

Isa’s smile is a shy, but warm little thing. Everyone else feels so far away, running across the playground while he and Lea have their moment. And maybe that’s why Isa feels brave enough to lean over, letting his head tip to one side until it rests on Lea’s shoulder. 

“I’ll be ready,” he says quietly. “And I’ll always say yes.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this. I'm bummed the original project didn't pan out, but I was so pleased with this piece, even outside the context of the zine, that I had to share it. Comments/concrit are always greatly appreciated!
> 
> Find me on Twitter: @peachylixir


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